The expression “pop” is used to describe the sound that a whistle can make, or the way the player can make the whistle sound.
I quote MTGuru’s comment describing Killarney Whistles/Órlaith McAuliffe demo “That whistle sounds very nice indeed, with a healthy amount of chirp and “pop” and a nice roundness to the tone.”
If it were possible to play a tune on one breath all the way through without ornaments, (tonguing, cuts and rolls etc) the tune becomes boring or lifeless. I would regard this chirp and “pop”, as an important embellishment to a tune, it puts emphasis on the important notes.
My question is; if a “pop” is not made by a cut or tap, how is it made? Is it just how the transition from one note to the next is “attacked”?
IMO, in the context you present, the ‘pop’ MT is describing, is the whistle’s ability to accommodate those embellishments. Some whistles can not handle the rapid change or pressure and the notes are crap.
When I think of the word ‘pop’, I think jump up, like in pop goes the weasel, kinda. So when I pop a note by whatever means, the whistle has to have the ability to handle that. Some whistles got it, and some don’t.
Ok. So a whistle without this ability to pop would not sound so lively and perhaps not have the personality, or is not suited to playing certain tunes. Is it possible that a good player would be able to make any reasonable whistle pop then?
I think that pop relates to the responsiveness of a whistle. I also agree with Gumby here about whether a certain instrument has this characteristic. To the question about great players making any whistle “pop”, I do not think there is much anyone can do to make a particular whistle more responsive. A great player will indeed squeeze the last drop of character out of any instrument but even they can’t make them all sound the same. You will certainly hear the players style and voice but even they will sound better on some instruments than others.
I’d also add that a lesser player will not necessarily sound better on a really good whistle and might not be able to take advantage of the “pop”. It took me a few years to get good tone from some really great whistles so I speak from first-hand knowledge on this issue.
Ecohawk is correct that when a whistle responds to a note immediately to the fingering given for a given note it is there. The note pops. No slur to it up or down.
New whistle players have a challenge finding pop in a whistle evan when the whistle has it.
Hmmmmmm… Good pop requires good breathe control and a whistle with a short distance between the wind way exit and the blade/ramp. Whistle players that find this pop and breath control often switch to flute.
I understood “pop” to be a small plosive sound produced when you land your fingers on toneholes while playing. I notice it particularly going from around low B to middle D. A matter of taste, but I rather value it.